Supporters of the Anna Louise Inn, the women-only shelter near Lytle Park, will hold a rally in front of the Hamilton County
Courthouse at noon today, which was supposed to be the day Western &
Southern and Anna Louise Inn owner Cincinnati Union Bethel met in court
again. The court date has been delayed as the controversy continues to
grow. The legal battle surrounds Western & Southern’s attempts to
take over the Anna Louise Inn property and build a luxury hotel in its
stead. After Western & Southern failed to buy the Inn at below
market value in 2009, the financial giant has taken to court challenges to
slow down government-funded renovations at the property and seemingly
force Cincinnati Union Bethel to give up and sell. CityBeat’s extensive coverage about the Anna Louise Inn can be found here.
Cincinnati’s Horseshoe Casino dropped to the No. 3 spot
for Ohio casino revenue last month, losing out to casinos in Columbus and
Cleveland. The Horseshoe Casino brought in adjusted gross revenues of
$17.8 million, according to figures released by the Ohio Casino Control
Commission. With the drop, the city’s projections of bringing in $10 million to
$12 million in casino tax revenue for the year are looking far more
accurate.
Ohio’s business climate is the most improved in the nation,
with Ohio’s rank going from No. 35 in 2012 to No. 22 this year,
according to the annual survey of CEOs by Chief Executive Magazine. The
improved ranking comes despite Ohio losing half a star in “workforce
quality” and “taxation and regulations” between 2012 and 2013.
But the ranking doesn’t seem to be translating to real jobs,
considering both liberal and conservative think tanks seemingly agree
Ohio is not undergoing an “economic miracle.”
If the city fails to restore its emergency powers through court battles, it could ask voters to reinstate the powers
on the November ballot, according to City Solicitor John Curp. Previously, the city used emergency clauses to
remove 30-day waiting periods on laws and effectively remove the ability
for voters to referendum, but opponents of the city’s parking plan
say the City Charter does not explicitly remove referendum rights. So
far, courts have sided against the city; if that holds, voters will have
to rework the City Charter to restore the powers.
A study from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital found nurse-to-patient ratios really do matter.
Charles Ramsey, the man who allegedly helped save three
kidnapped women and a child in Cleveland, has become an Internet
sensation because of his expressive interview with a TV news station. Read more on the kidnappings at the Toledo Blade.
A 32-year-old Hamilton man jumped on a moving train because, according to him, he’s filming an action movie.
News of massacres and gun violence can seem pretty bleak
at times, but it’s worth remembering gun homicides in the United States
are down 49 percent since 1993. The analysis from The Washington Post and Pew Research points to economic conditions, stricter prison sentences and lead abatement as driving factors, but it’s also worth noting the Brady Act,
which requires background checks on many firearm purchases, passed in
1993 and went into effect in 1994, around the time the dip in gun
homicides began.
Teachers, rejoice. New software can teach photocopiers to grade papers.
A vaccine halts heroin addiction in rats, and it’s now ready for human trials.

The Historic Conservation Board knew it
was in for a long afternoon when Western & Southern showed up to
Monday’s hearing with an army of suits to argue against a recommended
zoning permit for the Anna Louise Inn.

Western & Southern expected to appeal something else next week

In the ongoing saga of Western & Southern vs. the Anna
Louise Inn, there have been several court cases and zoning rulings,
most of which have been appealed by one side or the other. Today it was
the Cincinnati Zoning Board of Appeals’ turn to rule on
something that’s already been ruled on, and it went in favor of the
Anna Louise Inn.
The Board upheld a certificate of appropriateness for the
Anna Louise Inn’s planned renovation, which essentially also upholds the
Historic Conservation Board’s right to issue a conditional use permit —
at least for now. Western & Southern is expected to appeal that
permit, granted by the Conservation Board Aug. 27, before its 30-day
window to do so expires.
Before this series of appeals can play out, the 1st
District Court of Appeals will hear arguments in the Anna Louise Inn’s
appeal of Judge Norbert Nadel’s May 27 ruling, which set in motion the
Inn’s attempts to secure zoning approval from the Historical
Conservation Board in the first place.
(All of this could have been avoided if Western & Southern would have purchased the Anna Louise Inn when it had the chance. CityBeat
previously reported the details of Western & Southern’s failure to
purchase the Inn and the company’s subsequent attempts to force the Inn
out of the neighborhood here.)
About 40 people attended today’s hearing, including City
Councilman Wendell Young, who said he supports the Anna Louise Inn but
was not there to testify on its behalf.
By upholding the certificate of
appropriateness, the ruling keeps alive a conditional use permit that
could allow the Anna Louise Inn to move forward with a $13 million
renovation of its historic building, once the expected appeals process plays out. (CityBeat covered the Aug. 27 Historical Conservation Board hearing here.)
The Board heard brief arguments from lawyers for both
Western & Southern and Cincinnati Union Bethel and then entered
executive session for about 15 minutes before ruling in favor of the
Anna Louise Inn.
Western & Southern lawyer Francis Barrett, who is the
brother of Western & Southern CEO John Barrett and a member of the
University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees, told CityBeat after
the meeting that he disagreed with the board’s finding because a
designed expansion of the building’s fifth floor has not yet had its use
approved.
“With this case, the Historical
Conservation Board is basically approving for the certificate of
appropriateness the design of the building,” Barrett said. “But the
design included an expansion of the fifth floor,
and until that use issue is resolved the code reads, in my opinion, you
can’t approve the design because the use hasn’t been approved.”
Barrett during the hearing read a written statement to the
board arguing two main points: that the Historic Conservation Board
didn’t have the jurisdiction to grant the certificate of
appropriateness; and even if it did, Barrett argued, the physical
expansion planned makes it a non-conforming use which wouldn’t qualify
for the building permit.
Cincinnati Union Bethel attorney Tim Burke told the Board
that the Anna Louise Inn is not seeking a permit for non-conforming use
because it already received a conditional use permit from the Historic
Conservation Board.
“Western & Southern is doing everything it can to block this renovation from happening,” Burke told the Board.
At the Historic Conservation Board hearing last month
Western & Southern tried paint a picture of the Anna Louise Inn’s
residents contributing to crime in the area because a condition of the
conditional use permit is that the building’s use will not be
detrimental to public health and safety or negatively affect property
values in the neighborhood. But the Board granted the permit, stating
that the Anna Louise Inn will not be detrimental to public health and
safety or harmful to nearby properties in the neighborhood and that the
Board found no direct evidence connecting residents of the Anna Louise
Inn to criminal activity in the neighborhood. Western & Southern has until next week to appeal that ruling.

Financial giant Western & Southern
last week accused city officials and other Anna Louise Inn advocates of
repeatedly deceiving the Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) to obtain federal funds for the Inn’s long-awaited, $13 million
renovation.

Threat of lawsuit next phase in Anna Louise Inn dispute

Financial giant and Lytle Park bully Western & Southern has accused city officials and other Anna Louise Inn advocates of repeatedly deceiving the Department of Housing and Urban Development in order to obtain federal funds for the long-awaited, $13 million renovations to the Inn. Those renovations are the same ones that have been blocked over and over by a series of legal entanglements initiated by Western & Southern, which tried to purchase the Inn back in 2009 for $1.8 million, refusing to buffer the Inn's $3 million price tag. In 2011, the Hamilton County Auditor valued the plot at $4 million. Now, the corporate giant, which owns a number of other plots of land in Lytle Park, wants to buy the Inn and convert it into an upscale hotel. Western & Southern’s lawyer, Glenn Whitaker, sent a letter obtained by CityBeat dated March 19 to City Solicitor John Curp accusing city officials of knowingly violating the federal Fair Housing Act by allowing the owner of the Inn, Cincinnati Union Bethel (CUB), to pursue federal funding for renovations while providing services to exclusively women in need, which the letter alleges would “discriminate on the basis of gender” and “expose the City to liability under both the federal False Claims Act and the FHA.” “We share this with you because — no matter where one stands on whether ALI’s renovations comply with Cincinnati Zoning Code — it is in the public interest for the City to avoid a lawsuit that could lead to a significant payout in today’s budget environment,” reads the letter. Of course, that lawsuit is one that would be entirely fabricated and launched by Western & Southern, on top of years worth of zoning violation allegations that, so far, have failed to gather much merit.Some women-only shelters are deemed permissible due to safety issues, but in the letter, Whitaker alleges that the renovation plans expose ALI to discrimination liability by, in theory, making the safety issue moot by providing clear, separated spaces for men and women. The renovation plans include converting what are now dormitory-style units with shared bathrooms into private residences with private bathrooms and kitchens, according to the letter. Curp, who received the letter, says the city’s relationship with HUD is one that hinges on constant communication, and though Western & Southern's allegations were unexpected, they'll be taken seriously. “We work with them closely, we have a great relationship with HUD. They were the first organization we contacted when we got this letter, ... so they understood the nature of the allegations and because they’re one of our development partners. We have lots of development partners in the city, frankly, including Western & Southern. ... We're disappointed that the city has been pulled into what is otherwise a third-party dispute." The letter also accuses a number of community members, including 3CDC, Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, the Model Group, the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition and the YMCA of conspiring to move low-income residents from the Metropole to the Anna Louise Inn in order to ease litigation with the Homeless Coalition and make way for the new, upscale 21c Museum Hotel. John Barrett, Western & Southern’s CEO, is also on the board of 3CDC, which adds an extra element of mystery to the lodged accusations; at best, it seems extreme they'd be willing to accuse ally 3CDC of wrongdoing or conspiracy for the sake of a discrimination lawsuit against a nonprofit social services agency whose stated goal for more than 100 years has been to provide a haven for women in need. Ideally, explains Curp, HUD will respond equipped with some sort of past precedent that would absolve the city and the Inn of alleged discrimination and make the lawsuit irrelevant. "I think a lawsuit would be very much premature. ... Like I said, our first step is to talk to HUD and to make sure that between the both of us, we don’t see any discrimination or compliance issues. If there’s any chance of that ... after our review and a review by HUD, we will fix it to bring it into compliance," he says. "As I sit here today, I can't imagine this situation hasn't been dealt with in the past. I'd be shocked if HUD hasn't dealt with this in another community and come up with a set of guidelines for us to follow."

Hearings set with Judge Norbert Nadel for April

The Anna Louise Inn and Western &
Southern will meet again in court in April to begin the next chapter of
the ongoing zoning dispute between the longtime neighbors.
In a Feb. 8 ruling, the Ohio First
District Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court that Cincinnati
Union Bethel, which owns the Inn, filed an incomplete permit
application. The ruling asks CUB to resubmit the funding requests to the
city of Cincinnati — except this time CUB will have to include details
about previously omitted parts of the Anna Louise Inn and the Off the
Streets program.
But Tim Burke, attorney for CUB, says CUB
already carried out the court’s requirements. After Judge Norbert Nadel
ruled May 4 that the Inn didn’t properly fill out its original
application, CUB started a second chain of applications to obtain a
conditional use permit to meet Nadel’s zoning specifications. The new
applications have been approved by Cincinnati’s Historic Conservation
Board and the Cincinnati Zoning Board of Appeals, but Western &
Southern is appealing those rulings as well.
Last week’s appeals court ruling sent the
case back down to the lower court on a legal technicality. With the
ruling, all the Anna Louise Inn cases, including the separate chain of
zoning appeals, are essentially consolidated to Nadel.
The dispute began in 2010, when Western
& Southern sued the Anna Louise Inn over zoning issues to block $13
million in city- and state-distributed federal loans to renovate the
building. Western & Southern declined an opportunity to purchase the
building in 2009, but now seems interested in turning it into a luxury
hotel.
The Anna Louise Inn is a 103-year-old
building that provides shelter to low-income women. Its Off the Streets
program helps women involved in prostitution turn their lives around.For more information about this ongoing dispute, visit CityBeat's collection of coverage here.

The latest appeals court ruling did not give the Anna Louise Inn much peace of mind in its ongoing feud with Western & Southern. On Friday, the
Ohio First District Court of Appeals affirmed most of a lower court’s ruling against the Anna Louise Inn, but it sent the case back down to the lower court on a
legal technicality.
The ruling means the case could restart, potentially
setting Cincinnati Union Bethel, which owns the inn, and Western &
Southern on another path of court hearings and appeals that will take up
taxpayer money and the courts’ time — all because Western &
Southern is bitter it didn’t purchase the Anna Louise Inn when given the
opportunity.
By agreeing with the lower court that Cincinnati Union Bethel filed an incomplete application, the appeals court is now asking the owners of the Anna Louise Inn to resubmit their
funding requests to the city of Cincinnati — except this time Cincinnati Union Bethel
will have to include details about previously omitted parts of the Anna Louise Inn and the Off
the Streets program.
But Tim Burke, Cincinnati Union Bethel’s attorney, is
hopeful the process will not have to restart. He says Cincinnati Union
Bethel already carried out the appeals court’s requirements.
After Hamilton County Judge Norbert Nadel handed down his May 4 ruling
against the Anna Louise Inn, Cincinnati Union Bethel started a second
chain of zoning and permit applications to obtain a conditional use permit that met
Nadel’s specifications. So far, the applications have been approved by Cincinnati’s Historic Conservation Board and the Cincinnati Zoning Board of Appeals,
but Western & Southern is appealing those rulings as well.
Burke and Cincinnati Union Bethel hope to meet with Nadel Monday to make their case. If they’re successful, they’ll stave off another series of court hearings and appeals.
Burke says the case has been a uniquely negative experience — previously calling it one of the most frustrating of his career. He says
Western & Southern’s actions are pure obstructionism: “They benefit
from delays, and that’s all they’re trying to do.”Cincinnati Union Bethel wants to use city funds to help finance $13 million in
renovations for the Anna Louise Inn, which are necessary to keep the building open and functional.
The Anna Louise Inn is a 103-year-old building that
provides shelter to low-income women. Its Off the Streets program helps
women involved in prostitution turn their lives around.
Western & Southern previously supported the Anna
Louise Inn and the Off the Streets program with direct donations, but the
friendly relations abruptly ended when Cincinnati Union Bethel refused
to sell the building to Western & Southern, instead opting to
renovate the Inn. At that point, Western & Southern began a series of
legal challenges meant to obstruct Cincinnati Union Bethel’s renovation
plans.
The zoning debate centers around whether the Anna Louise
Inn qualifies as a “special assistance shelter” or “transitional
housing.” The Anna Louise Inn originally claimed to be transitional
housing, but Nadel ruled the building is a special assistance
shelter. After that ruling, Cincinnati Union Bethel obtained a conditional use permit for the new classification, but Western & Southern is now disputing the approval of that permit.
For more information about this ongoing dispute, visit CityBeat's collection of coverage here.